India's Robots Haul 1.5 Tonnes So Workers Can Build, Not Carry

Construction workers spend most of their day carrying bricks and cement instead of actually building things. Flo Mobility decided that robots could do the hauling while humans do what they're trained for.

Founded in 2021 by Manesh Jain and Pratik Patel, the Bengaluru company built the Flo Hauler, a battery-powered autonomous robot that carries up to 1.5 tonnes of materials around construction sites. The challenge wasn't just building a strong robot but teaching it to navigate the chaos of an active building site.

Unlike warehouse floors that are flat and predictable, construction sites change weekly. The ground shifts, weather disrupts work, and the layout evolves as buildings rise floor by floor.

Flo Mobility paired custom hardware with AI models that handle navigation, perception and managing multiple robots at once. Instead of selling the robots outright, they offer them on subscription, making it easier for builders to test the technology without huge upfront costs.

The results speak for themselves. Larsen & Toubro, Godrej Properties, Embassy Group, Sobha and other major Indian developers now use Flo robots across 25 sites in 10 states. That's over 60 robots deployed, and these cautious buyers don't repeat deployments unless the technology actually works.

Customers report 45% cost savings, 50% faster material movement and 67% fewer workplace accidents. For an industry that uses only 15 to 20 robots per 10,000 workers compared to 600 in car manufacturing, this represents a major shift.

The Ripple Effect

The company's approach tackles a real problem for Indian builders who struggle to find and keep site workers. Rather than replacing jobs, the robots free skilled workers from backbreaking hauling to focus on skilled construction work that requires human expertise.

In May 2026, Flo Mobility raised $2.5 million in pre-Series A funding, bringing their total to $3.3 million. The money is fueling manufacturing expansion, improving the autonomy software and launching into international markets starting with the Middle East, where construction runs at massive scale.

With 25 employees and proven technology already deployed across India's largest construction companies, Flo Mobility is automating one of the world's least automated industries one hauling job at a time.